Giants' Da'Rel Scott much more confident, thanks in part to offseason program

Chris Faytok/The Star-LedgerGiants running back Da'Rel Scott says the team already has enough to replace Brandon Jacobs. He feels having an offseason program this year will prepare him for more action.

We just had our first hour of locker-room access and there were a series of interviews with Victor Cruz, Michael Boley, Kevin Boothe, Prince Amukamara and others that netted pertinent information.

But I wanted to start with something that struck me more than anything, and that’s the different look and sound to Da’Rel Scott, who immediately seemed a lot more confident in himself and determined than he did during his first year in the NFL.

“Just having that rookie year under my belt right now and these offseason workouts right now because I feel like I can prepare as much as I can this upcoming season,” the Giants’ running back said while standing at his locker, arms crossed and eyes trained on the reporter he was addressing. “There are no excuses I can make – ‘Oh, I didn’t have an offseason. I didn’t have enough workouts.’ I have all the access right now, so I can’t make any excuses.

Scott, who fumbled on a run in the blowout loss to the Saints, seemed like he was simply trying to navigate his way through his rookie season. But now, he seems intent on making an impact to help a backfield that recently lost Brandon Jacobs to the San Francisco 49ers and could use some help behind Ahmad Bradshaw.

“We definitely have enough,” he said of the current roster. “We did lose Brandon but I just feel me, Danny (D.J. Ware) and ‘Dre (Andre Brown) can step up for him. I feel like we can fill his shoes up and be a major part of the running game.”

Asked if he’s ready to take that next step to a bigger role, Scott quickly replied, “A hundred percent. A hundred percent.”

Am I making too much of a 5-minute interview in mid-April? Maybe. But I just felt a noticeable difference in a player saying the right things and saying them with conviction, such as when he was asked if the team should draft a running back next week.

“It doesn’t matter. If they draft somebody, that’s more competition,” he said. “Just one extra guy. … Hopefully they’re confident enough in me and (feel) they don’t need a back. But we’ll see what happens.”

In the meantime, Scott says he feels much more acclimated already, thanks to an offseason program he and the rest of the rookies didn’t have last year, on account of the lockout.

“Last year, I didn’t know what was going to happen because I didn’t have a lot (of preparation) and they didn’t trust me because I didn’t have the offseason workouts for them to trust me,” Scott said. “I got that year under my belt, I know what’s coming (this) year and I’m just doing everything I can do. Now I know what I have to prepare for so I just feel that more confident.”

He added, “They saw what I can do. Now it’s just a matter of me taking more reps and me being more consistent with that. They know what I can do and hopefully they can give me an opportunity to do it.”

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10:54 a.m. UPDATE

Whoops, forgot to add this quote the first time around. It was a pretty good one from Scott on the 1-2 punch he foresees with him and Bradshaw:

"I don’t want to say we’re similar, but I can catch out of the backfield, he can catch out of the backfield. He can get the tough yards. He’s smaller but he’s physical enough to where we’re both physical. I feel like he can break the long run but I feel like I won’t get caught. I feel like I can change the pace and be the home-run hitter."